New homes in Haiti further strengthen Fuller Center's ties with Lott Carey

Five new Fuller Center homes are being started in Haiti, two in the community of Lambi and three in Leogane. While both earthquake-ravaged areas are in dire need of adequate housing, The Fuller Center’s work there goes far beyond that.

The Lambi plans call for 30 duplexes to be built on seven acres of land, a site where the Grace Fuller Center is helping to provide water, sanitation and civic space. It’s hoped that the Lambi site can serve as a model for other similar sites in the future.

“We just dedicated a duplex on our community site, Lambi,” said Ryan Iafigliola, The Fuller Center’s Director of International Field Operations. “That brings us to four completed homes there. And they began work on the next duplex. Between now and April, we’re going to finish at least six houses. That’ll bring us to 10 houses there by April, maybe 12.”

Meanwhile, the three new homes going up in Leogane are helping to build even stronger ties between The Fuller Center and the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention. When these three homes are finished, it will complete the first phase of work there with Lott Carey Baptist Church.

“Our next three houses in Leogane will be built with Lott Carey and Lott Carey Baptist Church, which started working after the quake with some affected families that they knew there,” Iafigliola said. “Eight of the families owned their own land, and these three houses will finish up building with those families.

“But Lott Carey is very committed to working with us, whether it’s with families who don’t have their own land around Leogane or on the main community that we’re building in Lambi,” he added. “And some of those families may be willing to move down the road a little bit and be part of that, as well.”

Of course, Lott Carey reaches far beyond Haiti and Leogane’s Lott Carey Baptist Church. The mission has partners around the world, most prominently in Africa where it has partnerships working in a dozen countries, including Nigeria and Ghana where The Fuller Center for Housing also has covenant partners.

The Fuller Center hopes that the seeds of partnership planted in Leogane will bear fruit that will serve more families in Haiti and throughout the world where both enterprises have presences.

“Lott Carey is a tremendous partner for us,” Iafigliola said. “We always say that our primary partner in this ministry is the church. And Lott Carey is a group that represents thousands of churches, typically African-American churches, and looks to involve them with service, mostly foreign and overseas service opportunities. So there’s really a natural fit there for us to be able to work with them.”

For now, working together means the echoing of hammers and saws in the Leogane area.

“They’re sending teams to Haiti with us, quite a few teams,” Iafigliola said. “And we’re talking right now about having another 10-home build with about 100 people from Lott Carey churches in the fall. They’ve just been tremendously supportive.”